So, what was your first DVD/DVD player? Whoo...I never forgot that day when I got home from school and my father bought a spiffy new Sony DVP-S330 in '99. I bought The Spy Who Shagged Me as my first...god the picture was amazing and animorphic too! The black bars was a little...new to me, but I was familiar with them from doing some prior research for quality DVD players.

Mine was actually a PC DVD-ROM drive. It was part of the Creative Labs Encore 2x kit, a kit containing a 2x drive and a hardware decoder card. That's what I got started with. I got it in 1999. My first actual home DVD player was a Sony, I forget the model number, but it was a 3xx-series player that I got in late 2000. I had some problems with that and exchanged it for a Toshiba 1200 model, not realizing that the changeover to the 1600 was about to happen. I think I was about a week too early. Anyway, I'm back to watching on my computer, with a Toshiba SD-M1612, a very highly respected PC CD-ROM drive, that's a 40x CD-ROM/16x DVD-ROM model. Soon, I hope to buy a Sony DVP-NS715P, and get a near-ht-system going again.

I jumped on DVD early and got one of the 1st gen Toshibas. There were only a few DVDs out there and MORTAL KOMBAT was my first. I almost look fondly on the days when it was a search to find places that rented DVDs and when a rental was almost assured since not many had the players yet. Come a long way since then, with Mits HD WS and 6.1 sound, but there was something cool about those first few months.

The Creative PC-DVD Encore kit was also my first way back in the summer of '98. It's still what I use on my PC, though the drive is a little flaky sometimes and the software is not exactly God's gift to HTPCs. Still, it's good enough. Didn't get an actual standalone player until last spring.
I still don't have a digital receiver, so I'm dealing with Pro-Logic. I keep spending my money on DVDs and can't seem to save up for a much needed hardware upgrade.

My first DVD player was a Toshiba 2006 which I purchased back in June 1997. I walked into Futureshop with no intention to buy one. I convinced the salesman to give me a free DVD with it (The Arrival) as well.

I too can say that things have come a very long way. People today can consider themselves lucky. The format was on such shaky ground back then and it seemed like every month there was a new battle to fight (lack of studio support, DIVX etc etc etc). Titles were also more expensive too with the average DVD (single disk, single layer) costing cdn$35 with little or no features. Compare that today with the average bom price of cdn$24 with many places being cheaper than this, multiple disk DVD's, dual layered, features galore, and thousands of titles to choose from. In comparison there were about 10-12 titles when I got into the game.

Bought a RCA 5200 at Circuit City way back in Feb of '98. They had just started carrying them a couple of months back. Paid 400 dollars for it and 29.99 for Terminator 2. Since that purchase I have bought over 400 more DVDs. Not to mention my continuous upgrading of equipment. 3 TVs, 6 DVD players, and 4 receivers. Maybe one day my system will be complete, but I highly doubt it!

My first player was a Pioneer DV-414, purchased in January 1999. Nice player, if you didn't mind the audio sync being off. The first dvd I watched on it was Top Gun. I sold it when I got my Sony DVP-S9000ES.

My first player was I believe the Toshiba 2006 back when they first came out in '97, but I had to return it because it didn't have the digital Toslink out only coaxial, so I went back to the Wiz and picked up the RCA 5200(?) for $650. LOL, I still have that thing set up on the basement TV. Since then I've gone through a few different players:

My first player was a Toshiba SD-3006 in July 1997(I still have it in my bedroom). My first movie was The Fugitive: my father had to buy me DVDs in the US on his business trips because no B&M were selling them locally. I had to wait 3 months before my local Futureshop began to get DVDs and I was finally able to get me the free movie (On the line of fire) that FutureShop were giving with the purchase of a new DVD player.

Since then, I bought a DVD-ROM drive (Pioneer 104S), a new Pioneer DV-333 for the HT and I now have more than a hundred DVDs in my collection.

YM

What we do in life, echoes in eternity.
-General Maximus Decimus Meridus, Gladiator(2000)

The first player was the Pioneer DVL-700, purchased in April of 1997. I returned it because of the bug with subtitles.
Exchanged for Toshiba 2006, now sold.
Other players I've had or have:
- Sony DVP-3000, now sold
- Pioneer DVL-909, hacked to be multi-region, tied to the iScan Pro for multi-region and PAL playback
- Toshiba 3109, now sold
- Panasonic 110, DTS, given away, now dead
- Pioneer DV-606, DTS, and hacked to be multi-region
- Sony 7700
- Apex AD600 (used now strictly for multiregion PAL playback)
- Sony 9000ES, progressive scan
- Panasonic RP-56, progressive scan
- Sony 555 (?) (cheap, used for SACD only)
- A combination TV/DVD, branded Sansui at Costco but same as Toshiba
- PC DVD-ROM...got it because I wanted to see the supplements for THE MATRIX.
- Mac DVD-ROM on 6 different Macs, including the Pioneer DVD-R/RW unit known as Superdrive.
I think that's it...
- Steve

A Sony DVP-S500D for $500! around Xmas 98. I still have it although it's not in use right now. Never had so much as a glitch with it but of course, it's a little light on features compared with newer models.

I now have another single disc player, a five-disc player and a DVD-ROM in one of my PC's.

My first DVD player was also a Pioneer DVL 700 combo unit. I think it was in the fall of 1997. I still have it. The first movie I bought with it was "In the Line of Fire," one choice of about 10 that Best Buy had at the time.

My first player was the Pioneer DV505. Still the player I use, and I've had no problems with any DVD so far (well, except for scratched ones). Bought it in October -98.
My first DVD was the R2 Conspiracy Theory, bought in August -98.
--Anders

Zenith DVC-2200 was my first player and it is still running strong as our secondary DVD player in the basement (not the HT).

My first 3 titles (all bought on the same day) were Matrix, the original release of Dogma, and the original release of Interview with the Vampire. Both Interview and Dogma have since been replaced with their respective SEs.